Cable Network Roundup

During the day, The N is known as Noggin, a children's network. But by night, it's strictly for teens — and that includes gay teens.

The N aired reruns of the critically acclaimed '90s drama My So-Called Life, which had a gay teenager played by Wilson Cruz, as well as gay-friendly teen drama Dawson's Creek . It's also the home of DeGrassi: The Next Generation, a Canadian show with two same-sex teen couples, Marco and Dylan, and Alex and Paige. The N is a gay boy's happy place. (The N also currently airs South of Nowhere, with lesbian teens Ashley and Spencer.)

The Middle of the Pack

Shows on FX, particularly their original series Rescue Me (where fireman Mike Silletti has sex with his male roommate, then spends the rest of the season in a sexual identity crisis before reverting to heterosexuality), tend to use homosexuality for shock value. Gayish story lines and characters are introduced, viewers gasp, and then it pretty much all goes away.

Then there's Nip/Tuck. This show, brainchild of out producer Ryan Murphy, has always played around with gay story lines and characters, sometimes in unusual and provocative ways.

This mostly made the show just a small cut above normal FX fare — until last season's sort-of romance between Christian (Julian McMahon) and Sean (Dylan Walsh). The two men, partners in their plastic surgery practice, are best friends and even sometimes co-parent a child together. But one day Christian wakes up and starts thinking that maybe he wants to be more than friends with Sean.

In the end, the doctors figure out they are happy being something more than friends, but not quite lovers. It's not as if viewers have never seen subtextual homosexuality on TV before — Xena: Warrior Princess, anyone? — but to drag the undercurrents between two men up into the main text of a show is really something new, even if it didn't get all the way gay. (There is a recurring lesbian character, Dr. Liz Cruz [Roma Maffia], as well as a story line involving Dr. Sean McNamara's son, Matt, who has an affair with an older, transgender woman. He also finds out his girlfriend is having an affair with a cheerleader.)

The new FX series The Riches, starring Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard as heads of a family of grifters provides another bright spot. Perhaps as a nod to Izzard (a self-described straight transvestite), the family's youngest son is a cross-dresser who may feel pressure from society to don gender-appropriate clothing, but whose family is overwhelmingly supportive of his taste in fashion.

The Shield also seemed to offer something different with the character of Julien Lowe (Michael Jace), a rarity on television as not just a gay person of color, but one struggling with his sexuality in an interesting, believable fashion. Or so it seemed until the character underwent conversion therapy, got married, and the issue of his sexuality abruptly disappeared. With the sixth season now underway, hopefully FX will revisit Lowe's sexuality. If not, the network will have missed another opportunity and will be in danger of finding itself falling into the laggard category.

HGTV

If you want to live in a world where not only are all the sofa cushions perfectly plumped but gay people are fully and unremarkably integrated into the fabric of human life, then check out HGTV, the Home and Garden Network . Not only is it the home of Color Splash, the show of out gay Design Star winner David Bromstad, but it consistently incorporates gay couples into its shows on landscaping, home redecorating, and even how to get organized.

If a house in San Francisco needs its Curb Appeal lifted, the fact that its owners are two gay men is just part of the scenery. When House Hunters went to Sweden and helped a married couple find new digs, no one thought to comment that both spouses were women. The hosts never treat same-sex couples any differently than mixed-sex couples, and cheerfully talk about gay couples' "master bedrooms" and "partners" as if it's the most ordinary thing in the world - which is, all things considered, somewhat extraordinary.

Movies about moms — the good, the abused and the serial killers — mingle with some clever, gay-friendly original programming, including a de-gayed vampire series (and given the hotness factor of lead vampire Kyle Schmid, gay men should really protest that), and gayish dating shows both fictional (Lovespring International ) and real (Gay, Straight or Taken?) on Lifetime, the comfort food of cable.

The network recently aired The Staircase Murders, starring Treat Williams as a bisexual man convicted of murdering his wife. The film handled the bisexual element in a nonsensational manner that didn't use the killer's bisexuality to make him more sinister.

Lifetime also airs reruns of Will & Grace and Desperate Housewives — and of course, one of the gayest non-gay shows of all time, Golden Girls .

The music network for grownups has been somewhat gay-inclusive over the years. Out comedian Ant hosts Celebrity Fit Club, and he usually isn't the only gay presence on the show. Previous seasons have included Chastity Bono and Bruce Vilanch being out and proud as they try to shed pounds.

The Surreal Life also included transgender actress Alexis Arquette and handled the topic fairly well. Just recently, the network's new program Acceptable TV included "Gayliens," a biting satire on how America reacts to gay issues.

On the downside is the network's recent reality show I Love New York, which included the awful walking stereotype known as Chamo. But that is balanced out by the 2003 special Totally Gay and a lot of Melissa Etheridge, and given that, VH1 just makes it into the middle of the pack.